Technical DNA in an ICT world Dominated by Consumers

Yesterday, I witnessed the reformatted opening session at HxGN LIVE, Hexagon’s worldwide user conference held in sunny Las Vegas. After participating 20 times in the last 21 years one gets used to a certain rhythm when attending this kind of conference. The refreshing and retrospective opening keynote of Doug Menuez disclosed some interesting insights into how people, such as Steve Jobs, achieved success over the last few decades.

Technical Automation and Geospatial Will Emerge From the Shadows

From our technical engineering angle we sometimes wonder why technical automation in the geospatial arena has stayed under the global radar for so long, remaining virtually unknown to the average person. Hexagon brands, such as Leica, go back a whopping 200 years, and in the software business Intergraph was mapping the moon back in the early ‘70s. Yet, technical automation in the geospatial sector is still only known to those in the professional engineering market. In coming years, however, this game might change.

One of the factors that might influence this change is the globalisation of data capturing in which everyone will have access to increasingly powerful devices to capture not only georeferenced images but soon, immense 3D clouds right from their smartphones. This will be made possible by smartphones – or whatever we will call them – of the future that will hit the market in the coming 10 years. Users will be able to access data that will not only be stored unstructured in the Cloud, but managed properly and ultimately used in a large number of technical workflows and engineering missions.

Win the Consumer, Win the Game

The company that can win the consumer’s attention will dominate the future engineering market – yes; even the B2B market where Hexagon obtains the bulk of its revenue today. Doug’s speech provided many examples of companies that focus strongly on the consumer and mass market and indirectly capture the B2B market as a result. Hexagon has all the necessary software and hardware components, or technical DNA, to play a vital role in this complex marketplace scenario. No single company has more advanced hardware, 2D/3D engineering tools and geospatial tools in their portfolio than the group of companies within Hexagon. Capturing. Check. Data processing. Check. Data analysis. Check. Data management. Check. Data distribution. Check. Doug, where is your camera? We need it to take shots of Ola!

Geert De Coensel manages all the Belgian sales and operations of Merkator NV/SA, a company specialising in consultancy services mainly within the Utilities and Communications market. Geert co‑founded Merkator Belgium in 2011 after working for 22 years for U.S.-based Intergraph Corporation, now part of Hexagon AB. In that period he was assigned to several technical and sales functions in Belgium and The Netherlands. Geert has a Master in Electrical Engineering degree, with a specialty in Consumer Electronics (Ghent – Belgium, 1987).